April 19–26, 2001

arts picks|theater

Ellen & Pearl

You may not have been formally introduced to the two women being honored tonight at InterAct Theatre Company’s Kaki Marshall Arts and Community Award Dinner, but if you’ve ever been an audience member at an area arts event, you’ve benefited by their guiding hands. Ellen Savitz educates the artists of the future in her role as principal of the High School for Creative and Performing Arts; her crusading spirit played a big role in the school’s move to the magnificent Ridgway Library on the Avenue of the Arts. And Pearl Carpel — well, Pearl is everywhere you want to be. The volunteer’s volunteer, she’s a retired teacher who has become a fixture at the Wilma, the Adrienne, the Prince and just about any other theater you can name, standing by the door handing out tickets or just generally helping out wherever she can. (She’s also been active at fundraising events for AIDS and the Special Olympics.) Small and feisty with a somewhat devilish grin, she’s a quiet benefactor, the kind of individual an arts community can’t survive without.

—David Warner

Thu., April 19, 6 p.m., Wyndham Franklin Plaza, 17th & Race Sts., 215-568-8077.